FACULTY HONOR: Ostriker named White House Champion of Change

Posted June 19, 2013; 12:30 p.m.

by Staff

Jeremiah Ostriker, Princeton University's Charles A. Young Professor of Astronomy on the Class of 1897 Foundation, Emeritus, is among 13 people to be honored at the White House June 20 as a Champion of Change, which recognizes those who use open scientific data to promote scientific and social progress. Ostriker will be recognized for his research and influence in theoretical astronomy, particularly the aspects of interstellar medium, galaxies, quasars and cosmology that can be approached best by large-scale numerical calculations. Ostriker was among the first to show the prevalence of dark matter in the universe and to explain its role in the universe's expansion. He also helped initiate the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, which openly provided an enormous and diverse amount of astronomical data to the scientific community. The honoring ceremony can be viewed live on the White House website at 1 p.m. June 20.